Nebraska picked up its first loss of the Season Friday night with a 31-24 overtime loss to Illinois in a game the Huskers surely would like back. Despite holding a lead for much of the game, the Big Red just couldn’t piece together enough complimentary football, and surprisingly, it was the defense that proved to be the weaker link in the contest.
Defense Takes a Step Back
After looking dominant for the majority of the first three games of the season, the Blackshirts allowed a slow but steady stream of yardage pile up all night. Other than ending two drives quickly with impressive forced fumbles, Nebraska allowed every other drive, seven total, to last six plays or longer. Most of the damage came in the second half and overtime when the Huskers allowed 132 of Illinois’s 166 rushing yards, failed to communicate well on 3 goal line touchdowns, and let the Illini control over 18 minutes of game clock. The sustained drives were particularly damaging as it kept a hot Husker offense off the field. Tony White’s crew has proven to be too strong for too long to hit the panic button on the defensive outlook just yet, but this is a unit that needs to improve if this Husker team is going to meet its goals this season.
Offense Sputters in Clutch Time
Nebraska’s offense, particularly quarterback Dylan Raiola and his cast of receivers often played as well as they have all season on Friday night. The young gunslinger threw for 297 yards and 3 touchdowns, including two spectacular off-platform throws that will do nothing to slow the Patrick Mahommes comparisons.
However, the Huskers finished the game with just 48 yards rushing, and couldn’t convert on key third down opportunities when NU had chances to extend the lead to two scores. Still, Raiola led a fantastic 10-play, 41 yard drive with a chance to put Nebraska up front for good, but he threw a pass just over the outstretched hands of fullback Barrett Liebenbrit in the endzone on third down, and the Huskers missed a 39-yard go-ahead field goal to give Illinois life.
Overtime, as it has been for a full decade, was even worse for the Big Red. After a false start to start its do-or-die OT drive, a Raiola incompletion sandwiched between three quick sacks ended the Husker’s chances to force a second period. The debacle was part of a mind-boggling trend of offensive ineptitude in overtime games. Starting with an interception at Miami in 2014, the Huskers have failed to score a single point and have generally gone backwards in its eight straight overtime possessions, all of which have been losses. Until this unit gets this gorilla off its back in extra time, Husker fans will surely be watching future overtimes with their eyes hidden behind hands.
It all made for a rough end to the night for Nebraska and the 86,936 fans gathered for the 400th consecutive sellout of Memorial Stadium. Despite coming up short, the Huskers still look like a good team, and nearly all of their goals are still in front of them if they can regroup to start putting complete games together starting Saturday at Purdue.